The University of North Carolina saw a furious comeback come up short against rival Duke on Friday night in the ACC tournament. After the trailing by 24 in the second half, the Tar Heels were down just one point with 4.1 seconds remaining, and Ven-Allen Lubin was at the line with a chance to take the lead.
Lubin missed the first free throw and made the second, but the make was negated by a lane violation by Jae'Lyn Withers. Duke still would have had a chance to win in regulation, but it was still a surprising and brutal way for a game to end.
Withers was understandably devastated, but still faced the media after the game. Withers was joined by Hubert Davis as the coach and player stood with an arm around each other and answered questions. Withers explained exactly what happened and how he felt in the moment and Davis credited Withers's play in recent weeks as the reason that the Tar Heels were even in the ACC tournament semifinals.
Hubert Davis stood arm-in-arm with Jae'Lyn Withers for his postgame media availability:
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) March 15, 2025
"I mistimed the shot. I was just trying to make sure I crashed hard"
"Guys, we're not even sitting here in the semifinals without Jae'Lyn. I love him to death." pic.twitter.com/SrigSpTFlM
"We're not here without J Wit," Davis said. "The run that we've made over the last month and a half, it's because of our team, but you can also directly point towards J Wit, just what he's done for us on both ends of the floor. Just changed this team completely. So we're not even sitting here in the semifinals playing Duke without Wit. It's just been a huge part of our team and our program and I love the guy."
Both Davis and Withers deserve a lot of credit for the way that they handled this extremely tough moment.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Hubert Davis and Jae'Lyn Withers Shared a Classy Moment After Brutal UNC-Duke Ending.
